Ramsey helps Tri-City sweep

ValleyCats CF gets three hits, including solo homer in the fifth

Published 12:46 am, Monday, August 26, 2013

Tri-City Valley Cats' Edisdon Frias pitches against the Staten Island Yankees during a baseball game at Joe Bruno Stadium in Troy N.Y., Sunday Aug. 25, 2013. (Hans Pennink / Special to the Times Union) ORG XMIT: HP102 less

Tri-City Valley Cats' Edisdon Frias pitches against the Staten Island Yankees during a baseball game at Joe Bruno Stadium in Troy N.Y., Sunday Aug. 25, 2013. (Hans Pennink / Special to the Times Union) ORG ... more

Photo: Hans Pennink

Ramsey helps Tri-City sweep

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Near the end of his postgame journey through the clubhouse to grab some dinner, Tri-City ValleyCats catcher Brett Booth turned to his left and noticed teammate James Ramsey being interviewed. Booth simply could not resist offering some good-natured commentary.

"You are definitely Superman," Booth announced.

Ramsey has certainly resembled a superhero of late as the ValleyCats' center fielder continued his hot-hitting ways Sunday evening against the Staten Island Yankees. Tri-City, behind three hits from Ramsey, secured a three-game sweep with a 7-3 victory in New York-Penn League action before 5,168 fans.

Tri-City starter Edison Frias, making his first start for the ValleyCats since June 20 following a stint with Greeneville, allowed three hits and one run over six innings. Krishawn Holley worked the seventh and Gonzalo Sanudo earned his fifth save with two innings of one-hit relief.

"Everything is working right now," Tri-City manager Ed Romero said. "We're getting men on, being aggressive on the bases, playing good defense and our pitching has been outstanding. Even when we get in jams, we're able to work out of that. The hitting has been clutch."

The ValleyCats (40-25) begin a three-game series Monday at Brooklyn riding a five-game winning streak.

Tri-City pounded out 13 hits. Ramsey, a seventh-round selection out of the University of South Florida, boosted his average to .275 and has reached base in seven straight at-bats.

The highlight of Ramsey's performance came in the fifth when he crushed a 2-2 offering from Staten Island reliever James Haslup over the fence in right for his fourth home run.

"I just try to stick to my approach. Luckily, (Haslup) left it over the plate and I put a pretty good swing on it," Ramsey said.

As was the case Friday and Saturday vs. Staten Island (26-39), the ValleyCats grabbed the lead immediately.

Tyler White's bad-hop single in the first drove in Ramsey, and White made it 2-0 when he scored on a two-out double by Jon Kemmer.

Tri-City added two more runs in the second with two outs against Staten Island starter David Palladino. Ramsey reached on an infield single and White followed with two-run single.

"Getting ahead early is huge in baseball," White said. "It makes the other team have to try and scratch back."

The only trouble Frias experienced came in the top of the fifth when he walked Yeicok Calderon and gave up a one-out RBI double to Bubba Jones.

Frias, who went 3-3 with a 3.09 ERA and 37 strikeouts over 46 innings at Greeneville, escaped further damage by inducing an inning-ending double play grounder off the bat of Abiatal Avelino.

"We always knew he had good stuff: fastball, change-up and curveball," Ramsey said of Frias. "When he throws strikes, he is going to be very effective."